Presence, as in: an impressive appearance or bearing, is often established via the application of atemi during the execution of a technique. Atemi delivered in an indifferent manner or with the intention of missing the intended target will embolden my uke and serve to diminish my presence in his eyes. Part of my training is getting my partners to believe in the reality of my atemi, even while they know that I'm not going to apply the strike with force enough to do any damage.

Atemi delivered with correct feeling will result in uke feeling the energy of my intent long before the blow arrives. This, in turn, will adversely affect his positioning and balance thereby increasing my presence as perceived by him. When I deliver atemi during practice I make it known to my partner that, 'if you don't move I'm going to hit you', via the projection of my intent and by applying the blow accurately, on target.

Atemi delivered with correct feeling will result in uke feeling the energy of my intent long before the blow arrives.

Ron.

Great point.

I agree with your excellent post, but I'm wondering if your atemi would really be felt "long before the blow arrives" in a full-speed application. Somewhere in the back of my brain I'm thinking that the true intent of an atemi is to actually hit the person and have them react to that experience. In practice, we want our uke to be sensitive enough to react in advance as if the atemi is definitely going to hit them if they don't respect it and move.

I'm saying I don't want to train in such a way as to make my atemi be so obvious that they will see it coming. On the contrary: I want my atemi to be real, hit hard and affect uke's nervous system effectively. I think that's basically what you're saying as well.

I think it's uke's job to train their own sensitivity so they can react to a true atemi that would "normally" be a real hit. Obviously there are levels of intensity that can ramp up or down depending on the participants. We usually slow atemi down intentionally to make sure that uke can see it coming in advance and react, but we're doing that out of courtesy and in the name of safe training, not because that's how atemi is supposed to work. When we're uke we get to train our sensitivity to atemi, which is an awesome skill as well. Both of these get lost when atemi is just an afterthought for the sake of the form, which is what I think you are getting at here.

Thanks for the food for thought.

Conrad

RonRagusa

07-16-2013 02:34 PM

Re: Two Hundred and Thirty-two

Quote:

Conrad Gustafson wrote:
(Post 328185)

...but I'm wondering if your atemi would really be felt "long before the blow arrives" in a full-speed application.

(I'm sure you know that I'm not using the word 'felt' in the sense that uke physically feels anything before the blow arrives. No Ki balls here.) That said...

I doubt it Conrad. But even at my slightly advanced age, I still have respectably quick hands, and going full bore there isn't much for uke to notice before the blow arrives. Still, I've been told by people I train with that they definitely feel something coming at them before they notice there's a blow on the way.

Quote:

Conrad Gustafson wrote:
(Post 328185)

In practice, we want our uke to be sensitive enough to react in advance as if the atemi is definitely going to hit them if they don't respect it and move.

What I am working towards is getting exactly that reaction from uke, regardless of how sensitive uke is and whether or not it's a practice situation.

Thanks for your observations.

Ron

Conrad Gus

07-17-2013 10:46 AM

Re: Two Hundred and Thirty-two

Quote:

Ron Ragusa wrote:
(Post 328186)

(I'm sure you know that I'm not using the word 'felt' in the sense that uke physically feels anything before the blow arrives. No Ki balls here.) That said...

I doubt it Conrad. But even at my slightly advanced age, I still have respectably quick hands, and going full bore there isn't much for uke to notice before the blow arrives. Still, I've been told by people I train with that they definitely feel something coming at them before they notice there's a blow on the way.

What I am working towards is getting exactly that reaction from uke, regardless of how sensitive uke is and whether or not it's a practice situation.

Thanks for your observations.

Ron

Interesting. Thanks for the clarification. I'll be thinking about this some more.